Gerard Edery – Best of Gerard Edery

Gerard Edery’s descriptively titled double-album, Best of Gerard Edery is noteworthy in it’s versatility. Like a musical chameleon he manages to impressively switch back and forth from a wide variety of ethnic folk styles, seemingly at will. He demonstrates a mastery of these various styles rather than coming off as someone with merely a “jack of all trades” level of competency. What’s remarkable is how authentically he is able to incorporate folk sounds from throughout Europe and the Middle East. Some songs have a distinctly Arabic vibe, while others like Los Ejes provide a Spanish ambiance. There is a certain blend to many of these tracks where they transcend boundaries to form a Pan-European / Middle Eastern sound. Music is one of the few areas where people are able to set aside differences and discover mutual appreciation. Gerard Edery achieves this with his compilation, and the result is an eclectic masterpiece. The pacing on these songs is very relaxed and tempered, and much of this music has a meditative quality, almost New Age at times. I would certainly recommend this music to anyone who appreciates exotic and esoteric folk music, performed at a very high skill level and professionally produced.